The Feagin Reveal

Feagin told investigators that “when I first started going to (Burke’s) house he had three big jars of weed up in his room. … One day T.J. was talking to me about some illegal stuff. He was under a lot of pressure because of his financial problems.

“I told him that I knew someone who could get him some cocaine. A few days later he asked me if I had talked to the person yet. I called right then and set up a deal.”

Feagin arranged to send $600 to a friend in Florida, whom he identified only as “Tragic.” In exchange, “Tragic” would send an ounce of cocaine to Ann Arbor.

It goes on from there. No cocaine ever showed up, this Burke guy tried to scare/murder Feagin by filling a bottle with gasoline and setting it on fire outside his dorm room, etc, etc, etc. You know, typical college stuff. Except Burke is 26. But whateva, TJ Burke does what he wants, which is apparently spend up to ten years in prison.

Feagin was a last-minute addition to Michigan's first class under Rodriguez when it became clear that Rodriguez wasn't likely to acquire a higher-rated quarterback recruit. He did not work out, obviously. The Freep article dryly notes that Feagin "struggled to learn the playbook" mere paragraphs after describing Feagin's extensive marijuana habit.

The onfield impact of Feagin's departure remains nil; the off-field stuff… well, at least when a Michigan player violates team rules he actually violates them. Woo spin!

But seriously: it's bad. It's also one guy that Michigan apparently didn't run as thorough of a background check on—or possibly any background check on—as they scrambled to reconfigure Rodriguez's first recruiting class. As long as the incident remains isolated, fine. Yes, Kurt Wermers, you get a point, which brings you up to negative four.

Well, there's a regime in place propped up by oil profits that has rigged elections and disenfranchised millions of voters. They set up a mechanism to identify who votes for which candidate, robbing them of anonymity, expelled Human Rights monitoring groups (http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/09/19/venezuela-human-rights-watch-deleg...), peaked unemployment, and generally rolled back civil liberties. It's not killings in the poppy-fields, but its bad.

Anyone here who has taken ritalin or adderall to help study or wright a paper has done a drug more powerful than coke. If you know someone prescribed to these drugs they have a far worse addiction that a coke user. Coke is just more expensive, that's all.

I suppose that's one way to defend your illegal, brain and body damaging, potentially fatal habit.

My uncle lost everything he had ever owned, or will ever own, to coke. His wife left him after he threatened to kill her on a coke freak out. He crashed three cars, causing numerous injuries and lawsuits while on coke at different times. He works about 100 hours a week trying to climb out from under a $200,000 pile of debt that resulted, because if he does not by the time he dies (which will be much sooner given his destroyed body systems), his debtors will come after us to cover his debts.

When any of that happens to someone on Ritalin, you let me know.

"This is the EMU game, not the emo game."

They may come after you, but they have no legal right to pursue anyone but his spouse for debt he incurred. Unless you're talking about drug dealers or mobsters he owes money to, you have nothing to worry about.

Collectors will lie to you about your responsibility. They will try to convince you that you are responsible for his debts and will certainly take your money if you offer to pay, but no one - parents, children, siblings, neighbors - is legally required to pay his debts when he dies.

If they continue to hassle you despite your refusal to pay, you can report their harassment to the police.

Good to know. Thanks. My Grandmother paid his, uh, usury debts so he wouldn't end up on the wrong end of a lead pipe, so those are out of the way. But he still needs to pay the loans she had to take out to do it.

"This is the EMU game, not the emo game."

I don't really care, but I'm really interested to know what sort of a person gives a down vote over a post like this? Are the drugs really so all important to you that you view any personal story of the hardship they cause as a personal attack? If so, you should really, really visit a treatment center. That's not healthy.

Is that the physical addiction of Adderal is stronger than the physical addiction caused by Cocaine. Thus, the end comment about coke being more expensive, thus; destroys lives. I'm sure Adderal can seriously screw you up too, but when your doctor is prescribing it, and insurance covers (for most) the cost; it's a lot less financially ruinous.

Edit: I didn't neg you, though I got several down votes in this thread.

Though I did support Baleedat in that statement, at least in regards to Adderal. Adderal is a form of amphetamine, and highly addictive. I believe Ritalin is also, but not too sure about the that one. I should have clarified.

Actually, I'd have the same question about Ritalin or Adderall -- as I understand it, they are fairly closely related drugs. I don't think either one qualifies as highly addictive, at least at the prescribed doses, but I'm open to being educated otherwise. I've seen some data on drug dependency, but not so much about addiction.

Adderall is amphetamine. It is very addictive, and very hard on the body and mind. I was prescribed to it for a few years and over time it altered my mind drastically. The shit is terrible for you IMO. If your doctor suggest prescribing you to it (they give it out like candy these days), please do some research before giving him/her an answer.

Ritalin is the most commonly prescribed medication for ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). This treatment has helped thousands of people control their symptoms. But because Ritalin is a stimulant like cocaine, it may cause undesirable changes in the brain over time. It also has the potential for abuse. So what are the benefits of Ritalin, and what are the risks?

Like cocaine, Ritalin is a powerful stimulant that increases alertness and productivity. Ritalin and cocaine also look (on the molecular level) and act the same. Both have a similar chemical structure, and both increase dopamine levels in the brain. They do this by blocking a dopamine transporter protein responsible for the reuptake of dopamine at the synapse.

Ritalin is not addicting when taken as prescribed by doctors. Why this difference between Ritalin and cocaine? Ritalin is a pill that you swallow, so the drug takes longer to reach the brain. Cocaine is taken in high doses by injection or snorting. It floods the brain quickly with dopamine, which makes it dangerous and addicting.

Unfortunately, Ritalin is quickly becoming a drug of choice for teens. It's relatively cheap and accessible. And because it's a prescription drug, it's perceived to be safe. But if Ritalin is abused (taken in high doses) or taken improperly (by injection or snorting), it can be just as addicting as cocaine. This is because drug delivery methods can influence the addictive potential of a drug.

ADHD children are typically taken off of Ritalin when they reach adulthood. Interestingly, these individuals seem to be more prone to cocaine addiction. Why is that? Because Ritalin and cocaine are similar drugs, it's possible that ADHD adults are unknowingly using cocaine as a replacement for Ritalin. In other words, it may be an attempt to self-medicate. Cocaine may help individuals with ADHD focus, feel calm and in control.

While I agree that ADHD drugs are overprescribed in general, I think this is kind of a bullshit thing to link.

ADHD children are typically taken off of Ritalin when they reach adulthood. Interestingly, these individuals seem to be more prone to cocaine addiction. Why is that? Because Ritalin and cocaine are similar drugs, it's possible that ADHD adults are unknowingly using cocaine as a replacement for Ritalin. In other words, it may be an attempt to self-medicate. Cocaine may help individuals with ADHD focus, feel calm and in control.

If cocaine SLOWS YOU DOWN, you clearly still have ADHD and the associated chemical imbalance. It's also NOT unknowingly, people with ADHD are aware that certain stimulants act as depressives on them.

Why this difference between Ritalin and cocaine? Ritalin is a pill that you swallow, so the drug takes longer to reach the brain. Cocaine is taken in high doses by injection or snorting. It floods the brain quickly with dopamine, which makes it dangerous and addicting.

This is the most ridiculous thing ever. Apparently the only difference between Ritalin and cocaine is the delivery method. Come the fuck on.

You're right, Adderall and Ritalin are not the same, I didn't mean to imply they were...I should have made that more clear. It was a poorly organized post. I just wanted to post a few thing about the drugs.

But I don't understand your last point. Ritalin and cocaine are very similar. If people were to swallow a pill containing cocaine once or twice daily, I doubt many would develop an addiction (unless it was an 8 ball sized pill). And it goes both ways...most people would probably develop an addiction to Ritalin if they crushed the pills and snorted them.

I should have just left Ritalin out of my original post. I was only trying to say that coke is not the most potent or addictive stimulant around. Amphetamine (Adderall) is far worse IMO, and is prescribed to hundreds of thousand of children and adults in the US. Cocaine is expensive and illegal, but it's not evil...or anymore evil than the legal drugs prescribed by doctors everyday.

Look, I'm going to just sum it up this way: Vicodin, Oxycontin, Xanax, Valium, etc are all prescription drugs that can be abused. Oxycontin, for example, is nearly the same as heroin. For you to crusade against a prescription drug as being "evil, addicitive, dangerous, as bad as coke" THEN have the caveat that this is when used incorrectly and with the intent to get high (like, fucking duh you can get high on Robotussin and I don't see you campaigning against kids with misdiagnosed colds getting too much cough syrup) is just way, way fucking out of line.

A lot of things are dangerous if used incorrectly. Don't go on a rant about shit you don't understand next time. You do a disservice to everyone.

You know what's worse than Adderall and cocaine? Crystal Meth. You can make it from Sudafed. Time to start protesting CVS as a drug dealer.

I probably shouldn't be this pissed off, but this kind of shit pisses me off. You create a ridiculous strawman against something, a strawman that is contingent on someone breaking the fucking law. "You know what's more unsafe than a garrote? The power cord to my computer, because if someone uses it wrong, they can strangle someone to death, just like with a garrote. And tons of people use power cords everyday. Dell sells one with each new computer, whereas garrotes are expensive and illegal."

Whoa whoa whoa. I didn't mean to "crusade against a prescription drug as being 'evil, addictive, dangerous, as bad as coke." FTR I think all drugs should be decriminalized. I was actually suggesting that cocaine is not evil. I did a shitty job, and made some stupid/untrue statements. I still stand by my opinion that Adderall, when taken properly as prescribed by a doctor, can fuck your mind and body up.

"Anyone here who has taken ritalin or adderall to help study or wright a paper has done a drug more powerful than coke. If you know someone prescribed to these drugs they have a far worse addiction that a coke user. Coke is just more expensive, that's all."

This was hastily and poorly written on my part. I take most of it back. Please disregard.

There needs to be actual cocaine involved. Burke needed money, knew Feagin had a reputation, and approached him about a deal. Feagin just pocketed the money. It doesn't look like Feagin did anything illegal. He just took the suckers money! If you want to give me $600 I can call my "cousin" too...

The Free Press article uses the term "cocaine deal" many times. Yet, it fails to stress that there was never any cocaine involved. It assumes the reader will infer that there was cocaine involved. The Free Press article is playing on Feagin's reputation to get the reader to believe Feagin is a drug dealer in much the same way Burke was lead to believe Feagin was a drug dealer/broker. The article does not provide any evidence that Feagin sold coke to anyone, ever. Feagin says he dealt drugs back in Florida. He does not say what he sold. He asserts that he never sold any drugs in MI. If there was any hard evidence that Feagin was involved in cocaine, the article would have made that clear.

I do believe that RR did the right thing by dismissing Feagin. I also think that Feagin should never been admitted to UM based on his admissions in the police report about his past behavior. This does concern me and RR needs to do a better job with the background checks. However, the Free Press article was highly biased against Feagin, and implicitly UM and RR.

after all he was not charged with anything. of course, i don't know all the facts, haven't read the police report, and don't know the law. moreover, i don't really care about that. my point was that the freep called it a cocaine deal, when it wasn't. it was a scam.

u of m law students or lawyers out there that might read this blog please help me understand something. is there any possible way that RR would not have been able to find out about his previous arrests???

was my biggest fear when Rodriguez was hired. His willingness to give Pat Lazear a scholarship at WVU was the source of my concern. Lazear had a conviction for conspiracy to commit armed robbery and an earlier separate credit card fraud incident. OSU and Alabama withdrew offers, but WVU did not. I assumed that Rodriguez was told he would not be able to recruit like that at Michigan (and would not have to). This is not to say that Feagin and Lazear are equivalent. Lazear's background was all over the Washington Post and area newspapers. Feagin's may have required more digging to turn up and even then might not have been clear.

Feagin appears to have admitted his prior arrests in the context of the current situation, but that doesn't mean they were publicly available beforehand or that RR knew of his arrests when he offered Feagin.

Juvy records are sealed and it's not unlikely that RR had no idea.

Sadly, no longer actually in Hermosa, making me HermosaBlue in an entirely different way.